Reflection: The educational leader is continuously improving. Leadership in education comes from informed decision making, advocacy, and finding ways to promote sustainability. Advocating for students can come in a variety of ways. This can be done with research to add to the body of knowledge of education or also through direct application and meetings with key stakeholders. Below is an action research project that was done collaboratively to look at strategies to keep African American males from returning to an alternative school setting. Additionally, below is the capstone project for my doctoral defense. Both of these research efforts provided access to leaders in education, research and data collection, and collaboration with building and district level leaders. Furthermore, you will see examples of a continuous improvement plan for student achievement as well as an observation form used for school wide improvement.